I have come to realize over the last ten years that I am a lover of people. I love to love people and I love being loved by people. I don’t mean that in an “I need people’s approval” kind of way. Maybe a better way of saying it would be I love to be loved on. I value genuine appreciation, love, and affection. One of the Greek words for love found in the New Testament is phileo.
Phileo – (a) to be a friend to / fond of an individual or an object; (b) to have affection for; (c) denoting personal attachment, as a matter of sentiment or feeling; (d) to kiss, as a mark of tenderness
This type of love is what people often refer to as brotherly love. Interestingly it is also used to relate the love that the Father has for Jesus in John 5:20. And if you’ve been around me long enough and I’ve come to love you, chances are you’ve probably fallen victim to one or more (or all) of these manifestations of love. Ha ha.
I’ve found that with people I really love deeply from the heart, this love turns tangible on the inside. Sometimes it’s when I’m praying for them or I haven’t talked to them in a few days, or I miss seeing them or I’m looking forward to spending time with them… or for no discernable reason at all. But I feel it in a real and tangible way. Paul had an understanding of this:
Philippians 4:3-11
3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
As a friend of mine put it today, those are the spiritual bonds that you don’t want to break off. The kind that God intended. And something clicked in me about a week ago that I have been processing in my mind… I wish the love I have for Jesus felt like that all the time! There have been times that God’s presence has been so overwhelming that I have physically felt Him wrap his arms around me and hug me, and all I could do was cry and shake. I want to want that more! Every day, physically, tangibly.
Jesus is a real person. He has a real human body, and He is coming back sooner than later to establish His kingdom for eternity. Why don’t I miss him and long for him to come back more than I miss my friends that live across the ocean, that live hours away, that live a few blocks away? I think it’s because my heart gets disconnected from this reality. As I told my friend today, “I want him to be as real as you are. He is very real to me, and I love him a lot. But sometimes there’s this disconnect in my heart cause he’s not here right now as a physical person.”
John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” knew what it was like to love Jesus like that, but you might not know it depending on what translation of the Bible you read.
Look at some translations of John 13:23 —
“One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table close to Jesus,” – ESV
“One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him.” – NIV
“The disciple Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus at the table.” – NLT“There was reclining on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.” – NASB
“Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.” – KJV
The literal translation of the Greek actually says that John was reclining or leaning on the bosom of Jesus. Bosom is not a part of most people’s daily vocabulary, at least not mine, so I looked it up! The most obvious definition is, “the human chest and especially the front part of the chest.” It is also defined as:
- “a state of enclosing intimacy; warm closeness”
- “the chest conceived of as the seat of the emotions and intimate feelings”
- “ the security and intimacy of or like that of being hugged to someone’s bosom”
Maybe some Bible translators just didn’t think it was manly enough to translate the passage literally, but I applaud the NASB and KJV. I want to love Jesus like that! I want to be as unashamed as John. I have experienced that kind of closeness with few people in my life, but I have found it completely liberating on the inside. And I want to experience the fullness of that love with my Savior. I desire desire. I want to want. I long to long for Him more. More than I love my best friends or my mom, more than I’ll love my wife someday, I want to love Him now.
Song of Solomon 8:6-7a
“Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm,
for love is strong as death,
jealousy is fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
the very flame of the LORD.
7 Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.”
I have felt His overwhelming love for me more times than I can count, but I want to love Him with that same passion. I have been stuck on a song called “Magnificent Obsession” that Laura Hackett sang on the IHOP Limited Edition Volume 30 CD. The lyrics are awesome…
There is only one who is holy … Only this one who is good
There is only one who is holy … Only this one who is good
Rightly I say how I love Him … Following wherever He goes
Rightly I say how I love Him … Following wherever He goesOh how I love this man Jesus
His purpose is my heart’s desire
He’s my magnificent obsession
Passion for Him burns like fire
Passion for Him burns like fireWhen I find Him, whom my soul does love … Embracing Him, I’ll not let go
When I find Him, whom my soul does love … Embracing Him, I’ll not let goFor His banner of love abides over me … Ending the dark night of my soul
For His banner of love abides over me … Ending the dark night of my soulOh how I love this man Jesus
His purpose is my heart’s desire
He’s my magnificent obsession
Passion for Him burns like fire
Passion for Him burns like fire